How to eat to keep your brain healthy (spoiler: it's a lot like how to eat to keep your body healthy)

Brain experts have unveiled dietary guidelines to keep your mind sharp as you age — and you don't have to memorise a whole new set of healthy eating rules, because the foods that protect your brain are the same ones that protect the rest of you.

"What’s good for the rest of the body is good for the brain," announced the Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH), upon unveiling its nutritional formula.

"Many of us have gotten used to the idea of heart-healthy foods, but now we know that those same foods can make a big difference in our brain health, as well,” said Sarah Lock, GCBH executive director, in a statement.

GCBH's panel of experts met in September to pin down their diet recommendations, though they noted there's no single "magic bullet" that will protect your brain from cognitive decline or diseases like dementia if you eat it.

"No one food is the answer to brain health,” said Lock. “Rather, it’s a healthy pattern of your diet with lots of different types of fruits, veggies, fish and healthy fats, along with cutting down on salt, sugar, highly saturated fats and empty calories that seems to help the most."

The GCBH report, which you can read in full here, also outlined several practical lifestyle tips for brain health — which are mostly just common sense. Some of the no-brainers include:

Eat a lot of vegetables, in all different colours

Stats suggest less than 10 percent of Australians eat the recommended daily dose of vegetables, so eating more is an obvious place to good start. The GCBH recommendations highlighted leafy greens, though eating a rainbow of veggies will ensure you take on an array of nutrients — which will protect against cognitive decline.

Opt for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats

AKA "healthy fats" — olive oil is the standout example, though GCBH's tips also included eating fish one meal a week (fried fish doesn't count, sorry) and snacking on unsalted nuts, which are also sources of mono- and polyunsaturated fats.